Positive Thinking and the Meaningful Life Essay - 1820 Words

The ‘invisible butterfly’ called happiness has been the primary aim for humans with the influence of religious teachings and cultures emphasizing the pursuit of such nature to the extent that even the Declaration of Independence of the United States recites that â€Å"all men are created equal [and] that they are endowed †¦the pursuit of Happiness.† (The Declaration of Independence, para. 2). While many people were obedient in pursuing happiness, some stopped on the way and questioned whether the pursuit of such nature was be worthwhile at the end. The paper will consider two cases of counter viewpoints towards the idea of pursuing happiness, opposing each with proper evidence to persuade the readers that happiness is should be achieved by†¦show more content†¦It would also mean that happiness is purely an emotional matter, where the sum of several positive emotions equal to a greater happiness. The psychologist Martin Seligman (2003), professor at t he University of Pennsylvania and one of the leading researchers in the field of Positive Psychology, pointed out three basic theories of happiness: Hedonism Theory, Desire Theory, and Objective List Theory. The Hedonistic theory points out that â€Å"all pleasure is intrinsically good, yet temporary† and comparatively, the Desire theory claims that if an individual gets what they primarily desire, they will be happy (Seligman, 2003, para. 3). On the other hand, the Objective theory suggests that human happiness occurs due to number of events that are worthwhile to achieve, such as career, family and freedom (Seligman, 2003, para. 4). Overall, the complex human emotions and needs seem to be pointing towards one direction, which is to be happy and satisfied, indeed. However, the path of achieving it has been quite rough and edgy, resulting many to theorize about different ways to achieve a long-lasting happiness and increase the amount of fulfilment in one’s life. It eventually led for some to give up on the chase of happiness and question those, who ‘blindly’ followed it and regarded happiness as theirShow MoreRelatedWhat Does Best Practice? Look Like Into The Mathematics Classroom?753 Words   |  4 PagesWhat does â€Å"best practice† look like in the mathematics classroom? As the focus of math changes students are asked to develop their mathematical thinking rather than their calculating skills. â€Å"While math traditionalist are correct that it is beneficial to memorize formulas, facts, and algorithms, the math reformists emphasize the need for students to have avenues such as jou rnals, portfolios, or projects to demonstrate their understanding† (Kostos, Shin, 2010). 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